What is hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once mattered the most to us wind up in parentheses.
John IrvingRead
When I say my brother and his wife are heterosexual, that doesn't mean I'm talking about their sex lives. Likewise, when we say someone is gay, we're talking about sexual orientation, not their sexual activity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the difference between sexual orientation and sexual activity in discussions about identity.
Vito Russo addresses the misconception that discussing someone's sexual orientation, such as being heterosexual or gay, inherently involves their sexual activities or intimate lives. He highlights the importance of understanding that sexual orientation is about identity and attraction, rather than the explicit details of sexual behavior, which often leads to misunderstandings and misplaced judgments about individuals.
Themes
Sexual OrientationIdentityRelationshipsCommunicationMisunderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about LGBTQ+ rights, this quote can help clarify the importance of understanding sexual orientation.
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